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Paid plans start at $4/mo. There's also a free plan.
DigitalOcean has a free plan, and its lowest listed paid starting point is $4/month for Droplets. App Platform and Functions also list $0 monthly prices, but both are usage-oriented, so $0 does not guarantee every deployment stays free. AI services use separate units: Harness Runtime is $0.0535/hour, Action Gateway is $0.10 per 1,000 calls, and Inference is $0.05 per million tokens. The pricing page lists monthly billing, no annual pricing, and says prior-month usage is typically invoiced on the first day of the next month.
01Every plan, line by line
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean Harness Runtime | — | $0.05 | AI coding agent workloads |
| Action Gateway | — | $0.10 | Teams connecting agents to tools |
| Inference | — | $0.05 | Teams using hosted AI models |
| GPU Droplets | — | $1.91 | AI training and inference workloads |
| Additional GPU Options | — | Quote | Teams needing other GPU compute |
| Evaluations | — | Quote | Teams evaluating LLM outputs |
| App Platform | — | $0 | Teams deploying managed apps |
| Droplets | — | $4 | Teams needing virtual machines |
| Kubernetes | — | $12 | Teams running managed Kubernetes |
| Functions | — | $0 | Teams running serverless apps |
| Cloudways Managed Hosting | — | $11 | WordPress and PHP businesses |
| Backups | — | Quote | Teams protecting Droplet data |
| Databases | — | $15 | Teams needing managed databases |
| Spaces | — | $5 | Teams needing object storage |
| Network File Storage | — | $0.15 | Teams sharing files across Droplets |
| Volumes | — | $10 | Teams needing block storage |
| Container Registry | — | $0 | Teams storing private container images |
| Load Balancers | — | $12 | Teams distributing application traffic |
| Support Plans | — | $0 | Teams testing ideas and small apps |
| Virtual Private Cloud | — | $0 | Teams isolating cloud network traffic |
| Uptime | — | $0 | Teams monitoring endpoints |
| Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) | — | $0 | Teams monitoring cloud security posture |
Add-ons and overages
- Action Gateway code execution and paid tools are billed separately; tool search is included.
- GPU Droplets: $0.76/GPU/hour on demand; $1.91/GPU/hour is based on a multi-month commitment.
- Backups: weekly at 20% or daily at 30% of Droplet cost; usage-based storage from $0.01/GiB/month.
- Network File Storage high-performance tier: $0.30/GiB/month.
- Public internet egress overage: $0.01/GiB; inter-datacenter VPC peering: $0.01/GiB.
- VPC NAT Gateway: $40/node, including 100 GiB; overage is $0.01/GiB.
- Marketplace 1-Click Apps incur the cost of the underlying compute.
02What the plan grid doesn't tell you
GPU pricing differs by rate
GPU Droplets list $1.91 per GPU/hour based on a multi-month commitment; the listed on-demand rate is $0.76 per GPU/hour.
Backups add percentage costs
Weekly backups cost 20% of Droplet cost; daily backups cost 30%. Usage-based backup storage starts at $0.01/GiB/month.
Outbound transfer overages
Droplets include free outbound transfer starting at 500 GiB/month. Public internet egress over the allowance is $0.01/GiB.
NAT Gateway charges
A VPC NAT Gateway costs $40/node and includes 100 GiB; additional usage is $0.01/GiB.
03Which plan should you buy?
| If you are… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Teams running AI coding agents | DigitalOcean Harness Runtime | Dedicated Firecracker microVMs cost $0.0535/hour and support pausing, resuming, checkpointing, and forking sessions. |
| Teams connecting agents to tools | Action Gateway | It costs $0.10 per 1,000 calls; tool search is included, while code execution and paid tools are billed separately. |
| Teams needing a virtual machine | Droplets | Starts at $4/month with per-second billing, subject to a 60-second minimum or $0.01 minimum charge. |
04Is DigitalOcean worth the money?
DigitalOcean is worth considering if you want compute, databases, storage, networking, and AI services under one account, with listed entry prices from $4/month and some $0 monthly options. But the starting price is not a reliable estimate for a working stack: GPU rates, backup percentages, storage, and network usage are separate charges. The pricing page lists monthly billing but no annual pricing. We would compare the actual services and usage you need, not just the headline VM price.
DigitalOcean pricing FAQ
Is there anything cheaper than DigitalOcean?
The published pricing does not establish which competing cloud provider is cheaper for your workload. Within DigitalOcean, some services list $0 monthly prices, while Droplets start at $4/month. Compare the resources, usage charges, and included allowances you actually need before treating either price as your expected bill.
Is DigitalOcean overpriced?
There is no single answer without knowing your workload and required services. The listed Droplet starting price is $4/month, but add-ons such as backups, storage, GPU compute, and network usage can raise costs. The pricing page does not provide an annual discount to offset those charges.
Which is cheaper, DigitalOcean or AWS?
We cannot call one cheaper from the available pricing information: it includes DigitalOcean prices but no comparable AWS rates. The right comparison depends on the services, usage, and allowances in your setup. DigitalOcean lists Droplets from $4/month, but that starting price is not a full-stack estimate.
How does DigitalOcean pricing work?
DigitalOcean lists monthly prices and usage-based rates, with no annual pricing shown. Droplets start at $4/month; AI services, backups, and some network resources use separate units or charges. The pricing page says prior-month usage is typically invoiced on the first day of each month.